Investigators on Long Island have released chilling new sketches of unidentified murder victims – hoping details like their crooked teeth and a distinctive clog sandal could be key to solving their cold cases.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit has revealed five artist renderings and sketches, providing the public a glimpse into what the victims may have looked like before their death.
The bodies were on found in Long Island – the hunting grounds of alleged Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann.
The breakthrough could finally crack some of Long Island’s most haunting unsolved cold cases and some of the oldest unsolved crimes in the county.
‘Sometimes it’s helpful to receive information from the public based on new information [in an investigation],’ Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told Newsday.
‘That’s what these cases represent. Some additional information on the cases where we think, if we provide that to the public, we could move the case even further along.’
The facial reconstructions, now displayed on the district attorney’s office website, are the result of a collaboration between Suffolk County police artists, FBI experts and an external laboratory.
A team of 15 specialists has been working tirelessly as part of a task force alongside Suffolk police and other agencies.
Investigators have released chilling new sketches of unidentified murder victims – hoping details like crooked teeth and a distinctive clog could be key to solving decades-old cold case mysteries
The facial reconstructions, now displayed on the district attorney’s office website, are the result of a collaboration between Suffolk County police artists, FBI experts and an external laboratory
This sandals was found with the remains of Heckscher State Park Jane Doe
The unit, which emerged from the Gilgo Beach Homicide Task Force last April, faces the daunting task of reviewing more than 300 cases dating back to 1965.
Using cutting-edge DNA testing and forensic examination of human remains, investigators hope these to finally put a name to these faces.
The cases under review show a chilling history of Long Island’s crime, spanning from 1978 to 2012.
Each sketch released is a vital tool in officials’ mission to receive help from the public in identifying the remains.
Among the most promising leads is a male victim found wearing a ‘New Jersey’ T-shirt along Northern State Parkway in March 2000.
His most distinguishing feature? A set of crooked teeth that investigators hope someone might remember.
Retired NYPD Sgt. Joe Giacalone, now an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, emphasized the importance of such details.
‘If you don’t put it out, there’s a 100 percent chance you’re not going to get the ID, outside of DNA, of course,’ he told Newsday.
Rex Heuermann, accused in a string of Long Island deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings, stands with his lawyer Michael Brown, at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y. on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025
Rex Heuermann, accused in a string of Long Island deaths known as the Gilgo Beach killings, enters Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom with his attorney Michael Brown at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, N.Y., on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025
Asa Heuermann – who filed for divorce from her husband last year after his alleged crimes were exposed – issued a statement at his latest court appearance refuting claims her spouse killed six women. (Pictured: Asa Ellerup and her attorney spotted leaving court)
‘Most people are murdered by someone they know,’ he added. ‘Identifying the [victim] puts you one step ahead in regards to maybe finding who was responsible.’
One of the most haunting cases began in 1978 when a man with a metal detector found a human skull at East Beach in Heckscher State Park.
What started as a routine afternoon on the beach turned into a nightmare when the man spotted a 30-inch hole in the sand – only to find himself staring at the skull.
The victim, dubbed ‘Heckscher Park Jane Doe,’ was found with a belt horrifyingly tightened around her neck.
Now, cutting-edge forensic work has revealed she was likely between 18 and 22 years old when she was tragically killed in1975 or earlier.
Along with the skull, a clog sandal belonging to her was also discovered.
‘It’s a really baffling case,’ then-Suffolk Homicide Det. Bill Schwalback told Newsday.
‘There is a minimum amount of evidence here. The only way we are going to solve this one is with the public’s help to identify her.’
Valerie Mack disappeared in 2000 and parts of her body were discovered in Long Island that November
Heuermann is also charged with killing Amber Costello (left) and Maureen Brainard-Barnes (right)
The first victim, 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, was discovered by Suffolk County Police on December 11, 2010. The body of Megan Waterman, 22, from Maine, was found two days later
The investigation has taken another turn with advanced DNA testing that shattered old assumptions about the victims’ backgrounds.
The Sayville Jane Doe – previously thought to be Caucasian or Hispanic – has now been identified as being of Brazilian or Portuguese descent.
Another victim is now believed to be of Bosnian, Croatian or Yugoslavian heritage, while the Manorville John Doe has been linked to Colombian ancestry.
District Attorney Tierney remained cautiously optimistic about the unit’s progress.
‘With the cold cases, you only disclose evidence if you think it’s going to benefit your investigation,’ Tierney told Newsday. ‘Sometimes the most benefit you can give your investigation is if you don’t disclose information.’
‘That’s where the big avenue of additional evidence is,’ he added. ‘There’s just been so many changes in forensic science.’
Their mission has received a crucial boost in the form of a $1 million grant from the US Department of Justice.
According to official documents, the project aims to tackle unsolved violent cold cases where suspect DNA profiles have already been identified.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney holds a press conference on the Gilgo Beach Victims in Brentwood holds a press conferene on the Gilgo Beach victims in Brentwood
Suffolk County District attorney Ray Tierney sits inside Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom where a conference was held for Rex Heuermann
Pictured: An aerial map of where the Gilgo Beach victims were discovered by authorities
It’s simultaneously meant to enhance the county’s forensic capabilities and reduce the overwhelming backlog of unsolved violent crimes.
This comes just a month after suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann was charged with murdering a seventh victim.
Heuermann was indicted for the 2000 killing of Valerie Mack at a Long Island courthouse on Tuesday morning.
Mack was a 24-year-old Philadelphia woman who vanished 24 years ago. Partial remains were found in Manorville, Long Island, in November that year.
Heuermann has been charged with Mack’s murder after her body was reexamined using the latest DNA analysis.
He addressed Judge Timothy Mazzei directly as Tierney outlined the offences.
‘Your honor I am not guilty of any of these charges,’ the accused blurted out while shaking his head.
This booking image provided by Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, shows Rex Heuermann, a Long Island architect who was charged Friday, July 14, 2023, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders
Suffolk County Search Divers search the waters near Babylon, New York, as part of the grisly Gilgo Beach discoveries in 2011
Members of the public in the gallery were heard muttering, ‘yeah right’ and ‘f**k you’ in response.
Heuerman, 61, was arrested in 2023 and charged with the murder of six women – at least four of whom were sex workers before their deaths.
Heuermann’s wife Asa Ellerup has said in October that she still doesn’t believe her husband is guilty of the horrific murders.
Ellerup – who filed for divorce from her husband last year after his alleged crimes were exposed – issued a statement at his latest court appearance refuting claims her spouse killed six women.
Her lawyer Robert Macedonio said: ‘Rex’s arrest, the allegations have shattered their world as they knew it. After spending close to three decades with her husband, it’s hard for her to imagine that he would commit the heinous acts he is accused of.